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How will Rupert Murdoch justify not covering Obama's address to Congress next week?

September 03, 2009 8:55 am ET by Eric Boehlert

Fox has made it perfectly clear that it's not going to cover any of Obama's primetime press conferences. Ever. Fox TV (not Fox News) has walked away from that traditional obligation. And if you believe the Village chatter, lots of self-centered execs s at the other nets would love to follow Murdoch's lead.

Press conferences are so boring, the suits complain, as they huddle over their primetime entertainment lineups which have lost tens of millions of viewers in recent years.

But now, with Obama set to address the full session of Congress on Sept. 9, to discuss the hugely controversial topic of health care, how will Murdoch defend his (possible) choice to stiff the White House again? How will Murdoch's 'network' justify turning its back on a plainly newsworthy event?

Question for the historians: Has a U.S. television network ever refused to carry a presidential address to Congress?

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    • Author by bilbo_dies (September 03, 2009 9:34 am ET)
         
      Press conferences are so boring, the suits complain, as they huddle over their primetime entertainment lineups which have lost tens of millions of viewers in recent years.

      There you go. I believe that is enough justification for a capitalist. "If I can't make money at it, or, it causes/could cause me to lose money, why bother."
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      • Author by The_Cat (September 03, 2009 10:42 am ET)
           
        Which is why, so long as you are healthy and paying insurance premiums, everything is fine. When it comes time to actually provide coverage, though, somehow there are a thousand reasons to deny you, and if none of them work, they will simply cancel your policy and keep your money. The FCC needs to get involved in this, and make sure that local broadcast stations are indeed carrying the Presidential address on health coverage reform. It is part of the civic duty that is the cost of being allowed to freely broadcast on public airwaves.
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    • Author by shaggles (September 03, 2009 12:37 pm ET)
         
      I'm not sure if this is unusual or not. I watch my local Fox affiliate fairly often and it seems like they frequently have programming on when the other stations are all showing a news conference or whatever. I think they just do it to capture the audience that doesn't want to watch the news conference.
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